Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 141492 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 707(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 472(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 141492 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 707(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 472(@300wpm)
He had been trying to puzzle out the meaning of emotions. Trying to find a way to make feelings fit into logic. When the sensations he felt for Safia became not just physically passionate but undeniably about who she was, causing him to question everything he thought he understood about lifemates and relationships, he would simply distance himself from all emotion.
After being with her even for a short period of time, he realized he looked forward to every moment he could spend with her. It didn’t matter what the meaning of emotions were or what caused them. He liked the way she made him feel. He wanted to smile. She made him see the world differently than he’d ever seen it. He saw her family through her eyes. She loved effortlessly. Unconditionally. There was joy in her. He wanted Safia to be every bit as invested in him as he was in her.
“I’m invested,” she said, proving she was in his mind, just as he was in hers.
“You’re invested in our relationship,” he corrected gently. “You have committed your life to mine wholly. I see that. You’ve given yourself to me. Your loyalty and your trust. You are determined to do everything to make the relationship work. That is your character and who you are. You still haven’t quite made up your mind about me.”
“I’m feeling a bit of a failure,” Safia admitted, not bothering to deny his charge.
His hand came up to massage the tension from the nape of her neck. “Sívamet, I have had two thousand years to find my lifemate. I know what I wanted and needed. I acquired as much knowledge about you as fast as possible, not only from you but also from your family. It is second nature to me. I do so with everyone around me, you especially. I learned who you were and what you were like, everything from the moment you were born until now.”
“You did?”
“A man wants to know who he is going to marry,” he said.
“I don’t know how I feel about that.”
“It is just what we do. Our way of life. It is easier than long conversations where people do not give the information you are looking for. You have been on this earth a short time. I am used to sharing minds and gaining information. You did so with Aura, but only to acquire knowledge of fighting techniques. You haven’t yet acquired the skill to investigate my memories and find out the details of my earlier life. Clearly, you’re capable because you have done so accidently.”
She had seen horrific things in the memories of his past. He hadn’t blocked her when she looked, but she knew he’d been uncomfortable, mostly when she felt any pain of past wounds.
“What you need is time to get to know me. Tonight is the night we marry in the way of your people, but we have time before I take you to the farm. I want to teach you some of the things I know you will enjoy doing. We should also take some time to look at the areas you think Lilith may attack first. Benedek and the others have familiarized themselves with the surrounding terrain, but you know it best.”
“We have to sign the marriage contract.” Her emerald eyes looked straight into his. “Even with my hideous temper, are you certain you want me?”
Petru couldn’t believe she still would have that little niggling of doubt in her mind. “That’s Lilith and Eduardo talking, not my woman. There is no doubt in her mind that I believe she is a true miracle. When our enemies intrude, we banish them immediately. We agreed on that already.”
Once again, he brushed kisses over the top of her head into the softness of her silky hair. The feel of those strands tangling with the bristles on his jaw seemed to melt something hard inside him. She was taking him over, and while he might have been resistant before, now he welcomed the invasion.
“You’re really quite brilliant, aren’t you?”
He kept his features as serious as possible under the circumstances. “I am always right. That is why many songs about me are sung around the campfires at night. You have only to follow my every command, and you will be fine.”
She burst out laughing, just as he’d hoped. He loved the sound. More, he was beginning to find his own ability to laugh.
“I walked right into that one, didn’t I?”
“Yes.” He kissed his way from her temple to the corner of her mouth to the dimple he loved so much. It took discipline, but he lifted his head and looked into her green eyes, needing to see how she would react when he asked his next question. “Are you ready to learn to shift?”
Her pulse jumped. Her long lashes fluttered. She gripped his wrist. “Shift? I’m not certain what you mean by that.”